Only kings remained on board after 54 moves and more than four hours of play. Still, Game 9 in Singapore on Thursday felt like the most underwhelming draw of the World Chess Championship match between reigning champion Ding Liren and challenger D Gukesh. And that's because the preceding two games were full of possibilities and excitement.
With Gukesh, playing white, going for a more solid Catalan set up, the onus was on Ding Liren to either misplay the equalising part or create imbalance with aggressive posers. Probably, it was asking for too much from a player who is not exactly confident.
